Rs.100-crore project to revive old railway station

A Rs.100-crore project to revive the old railway station (formerly the Ernakulam Railway Goods Station) located behind the Kerala High Court has been submitted to the Southern Railway.

Announcing the proposal here on Monday, Thiruvananthapuram Divisional Railway Manager Rajesh Agarwal said the plan was to have six platforms and three pit lines at the station. The existing lines and the station building (abandoned a few decades ago) could be renovated using the initial outlay of Rs.100 crore. Plans were also afoot to operate boats from the vicinity, furthering the cause of inter-modal transport, he said.

Once the station was revived, the Ernakulam Junction station would cease to be a terminal station. The operations would be shifted to the old railway station. “The State government must come forward with its action plan for the purpose,” Mr. Agarwal said.

The initial outlay would be used to clear weeds, revive the lines and the station building.

“The proposal and the fact that 36 acres of land at the station are lying idle were forwarded to the Southern Railway head office on Saturday,” said Ernakulam Area Manager of Southern Railway P.L. Asok Kumar.

Once the old railway station becomes a terminal station, passenger amenities in place at Ernakulam Junction would be readied here. “Once the renovation is over, all trains that terminate at Ernakulam and MEMU trains proceeding to Thrissur and beyond can be redirected here,” Mr. Asok Kumar said.

Skywalks

Referring to the discussions he held earlier in the day with DMRC officials, Mr. Agarwal said the Railway had sought skywalks linking metro stations with railway stations in the vicinity. “The metro station at Lissie Junction can be linked with the Ernakulam Town station, and similarly the stations at Aluva and Kalamassery.” The aim was to enable seamless interchange between transporting modes, he said.